Wireless communication networks are becoming increasingly common for interconnecting many types of electronic devices. Computer systems of all sizes, personal digital assistants, input/output devices, entertainment system components and other types of home appliances, are all examples of client station devices that are candidates for interconnection using a wireless communication network. Various specific wireless communication protocols have been developed. Examples of existing wireless communication protocols may be found in the family of standards for wireless Local Area Networks (LANs) known as IEEE 802.11, including the 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g wireless communication standards.
Generally, wireless networks include some number of access devices (referred to herein as “access points”) that provide network access to some number of wireless client devices (referred to herein as “stations”). For example, an access point in a wireless network may be connected to a wired communication network, and client stations using the wireless network are provided wireless access to the wired network through the access point.
Existing network management systems provide inadequate user interfaces with regard to showing the range or “coverage” of wireless communication network devices, such as access points. In order to understand the operation of a managed wireless communication network, a network manager needs to know the physical area covered by the access points in the wireless network, as well as the throughput provided within that area. As it is generally known, the throughput of IEEE 802.11 wireless communication systems is distance and environment dependent. The farther away a station is from an access point the lower the throughput provided to the station through the access point. However, existing systems provide no way for a system manager to quickly determine the amount of throughput provided in a covered area of the physical environment for a given device based on a graphical representation of that device in the user interface. Moreover, the channel selection of wireless network devices is another factor a network manager must have convenient access to in order to understand potential interference between devices in the network.
For the above reasons, it would be desirable to have a new system for managing a wireless communication network that provides graphical representations of devices in the network that indicate radio coverage area and available throughput. The system should further provide convenient indication of the channel selection of devices in the network, allowing a network manager to conveniently determine whether devices are interfering with each other.